Hong Kong Chief Sets His Agenda

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa continued a British tradition of unveiling the new government’s policies in the wood-paneled chambers of the Legislative Council building on Wednesday, exactly 100 days after Hong Kong’s return to China.

But while the setting was nearly the same as when Tung’s predecessor, British Gov. Chris Patten, announced controversial democratic reforms five years ago, Tung’s message for Hong Kong was completely different.

“We, the people of Hong Kong, have begun to write our own history. Each step we take today will set our course for decades to come,” Tung said in Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong’s people, rather than in the English of their former rulers or the Mandarin of the mainland leaders. “Hong Kong has finally broken through the psychological constraints imposed by the colonial era.”

Tung used his speech to exorcise the spirit of Patten, who had granted a vote to nearly every working adult in Hong Kong and often clashed with Hong Kong’s hard-driving business community. Tung reaffirmed new laws that reversed Patten’s reforms and said that Hong Kong will instead move “step by step” across the next decade toward democracy.

He announced several policies designed to boost business, pledged to improve people’s livelihoods and reminded Hong Kong of its duty to China.

The speech, slightly more than two hours long and ranging over topics from Hong Kong’s international competitiveness and ties with the mainland to the housing and education problems in Hong Kong’s own backyard, finished to a standing ovation in the chamber.

But not everyone in the territory was as enthusiastic.

“There were not many new ideas in it,” said Christine Loh, a former legislator who pens an alternative policy address every year. Loh said she was disappointed that the speech contained “not much innovation,” no push for democracy and no mention of human rights.

Nearly all of Tung’s plans had been outlined in his inaugural speech July 1, when he announced his intention to shift the government’s focus from politics to other issues close to home. At a news conference after the speech Wednesday, Tung defended his priorities. “Many countries take years and years and years and years” to become fully democratic, Tung said. “In the meantime, it gives us an opportunity to digest what we have today . . . and also focus on some of the more pressing issues.”

At the top of the list is housing. Hong Kong is one of the world’s most expensive cities in which to live, according to surveys, and more than half its 6.3 million people can’t afford to buy their own homes. Tung vowed to make more government-held land available to curb speculation rather than employ market controls, and to build 85,000 new apartments a year. He aims for 70% of Hong Kong’s people to own homes within a decade.

To aid the elderly, Tung increased welfare payments by about $50 a month and announced tax incentives for families who care for their aged members.

“We welcome every extra dollar,” said Ho Hei-wah, the director of the Society of Community Organizations, which helps the elderly and people who have poor housing. “But it’s not so much, considering Hong Kong’s giant reserves. We wish the government would share a little more of the wealth.”

Hong Kong, which Tung described as “the freest and most vibrant economy of our time,” boasts a staggering $86 billion in reserves. Wednesday’s policy commitments will cost $11.37 billion over the next five years.

Tung reassured investors that although the territory’s economic links with mainland China are growing quickly, Hong Kong’s economy will continue to practice “free trade and prudent fiscal management” and that taxes will remain “low and predictable.”

The underlying theme of Tung’s message was that the territory is now part of China and has a duty to help the motherland develop. “Hong Kong’s reunification with China requires us to appreciate and accept one practical and profound truth,” he said. “Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability are closely linked with those of the mainland.”